Abi Rooley-Towle, 52, is passionate about music. Alongside being a music teacher, she writes her own songs and over the past few years, has become recognised for her talents.
As a mature female from a low-income family living in rural Scotland, Abi spoke to us about her experience navigating the many barriers she’s faced in an industry that’s dominated by younger generations, money, and urban artists.
Constantly working to overcome these barriers and fulfil her goal of becoming a successful songwriter, Abi’s passion for music is nothing short of inspiring.
Abi says, “There are many barriers, but I see it as a means of growing into my best self”.
“My disability meant that I couldn’t get a qualified teacher status”
Abi’s everyday job is teaching holistic music. This, she explained, involves teaching students through the Kodaly Method.
This method is a widely-recognised international approach to music education. It’s based on the idea that musical learning should give students a deep and profound body-based musicianship while inspiring them from an emotional, cultural, and spiritual perspective.
Originally, Abi’s goal had been to become a fully-qualified music teacher, but during her teacher training it came to light that she had dyscalculia (severe difficulty with mathematics and the use of IT), which prevented her from gaining qualified teacher status (QTS).
She says, “As I was doing my teacher training I found out that I had dyscalculia, which meant I basically couldn’t pass teaching maths. I completed the course but only achieved a step below being a qualified teacher because of my disability.
“So instead I had to teach from home in more of a freelance capacity. My disability meant that I was marginalised.”
“The songs just seemed to come like downloads out of me”
The combination of having no choice but to teach from home and then experiencing a family trauma, meant that, in 2013, songwriting became Abi’s comfort.
She says, “Songwriting was something that progressed really naturally for me. In some ways it feels like, because of my disability, the creative side of my brain basically takes over!
“Looking back, I guess I was always songwriting in some form – making up silly rhymes for my children when they were growing up. But then, while having to set up work by myself and going through a family trauma, it felt like songwriting was the only way I could express myself. The door was open and from there the songs just seemed to come like downloads out of me!”
“I was told how extraordinary it was that a mum who teaches kids and writes songs in her rented farmhouse had this level of outside interest in her work”
As she begun songwriting, Abi’s husband (a keen rhythm and blues guitarist himself) suggested entering one of her songs into an international song competition – the outcome of which shone a light of Abi’s talents and led her to consider whether songwriting could be a career worth pursuing.
She says, “My husband suggested that we record my song and enter it into this international competition. We looked up the results and saw that my song had been put into the semi-final – so I thought, maybe I should do more of this!”
After further encouragement from those around her, Abi contacted a producer, linked to the competition, to see where her music could take her.
She says, “I literally know nothing about the music industry, I grew up without a TV, so I really don’t have a map of who’s famous and who’s not. I live in northeast Scotland in the middle of nowhere, and the music I write is not exactly your normal run-of-the-mill rock and roll.
“But I managed to put together four tracks and I sent them to this producer. I hadn’t googled him or anything, I just wanted to see where it could go. He got back to me and said he wanted to work together, so I thought I’d better look him up. I was gobsmacked – it was a moment where you realise your life is never quite going to be the same again. This man had produced Grammy award-winning artists, and he was interested in me.”
Due to a lack of funding and the fact that this producer was in Canada, the partnership didn’t work out. But, as Abi explained, this was just the start of her journey. Attending XpoNorth that summer (a year-round support programme helping to grow the region’s creative economy), Abi connected with a music producer who offered to mentor and advise her – which he has continued to do over the years.
She says, “At XpoNorth I was told how extraordinary it was that a mum who teaches kids and writes songs in her rented farmhouse had this level of interest [from others] in her work.”
“I see songwriting as a means of growing into my best self, whatever age I am. And surely, that’s something to be celebrated”
With people becoming increasingly interested in her music, Abi explained that the obstacles which lay in her path to becoming a successful singer-songwriter became much clearer.
She says, “After I was offered mentoring and advice by a producer, I sat and thought to myself, as a mother (who at that point was in her late 40s), living in the middle of nowhere, with no one to play my music with, nowhere to gig, and no money, this was going to be a real challenge.”
From age and gender-discrimination, to issues with geography and funding, Abi told us about the various challenges she faces in this highly competitive industry.
She says, “The early stages of a musician’s career is expensive because it’s loaded with developments that cost money. We’re a low-income family and our money obviously has to go on food, heating, and so on. My husband is a carer and I’m a part-time music teacher who can’t teach mainstream music education because of my disability, so I really have no spare money to put into this.
“You also need to be able to put yourself out there. But living rurally, it’s very hard to get to gigs or meet other people who want to make the unusual music I do. There’s a huge unconscious bias towards urban artists.
“I’m also a woman, and the amount of women who are successful singer songwriters is far less than men. Plus, the song production process requires digital skills – something I find very difficult because of my disability.”
But amazingly, despite the barriers, Abi remains passionate and hopeful about her dream.
She says, “While there are many barriers, songwriting itself to me is an ease. I can sit there with a cup of tea, go into a slightly meditative state, and just let the song flow. I see songwriting as a means of growing into my best self, whatever age I am. And surely, that’s something to be celebrated.”
“It hasn’t been linear or logical, but each little step has led onto the next one, so I’ll see where the path takes me next”
Abi explained that a lot of her music has a clear message, meaning, and purpose behind it. For example, her song, ‘ When a Child Stands Alone’, was written with Syrian refugees in mind, ‘Heart’s Ease’ relates to the effect the pandemic has had upon the world and two of her more recent releases, ‘Tipping Point’ and ‘Shape of Water’, are based around the current climate crisis.
She says, “I only really like to do things if I feel that they’re of value to other people or the world and could actually make a small difference, otherwise I’m not so interested. I like my work to be something of a vibration raiser in some form or another.”
Abi explained that while her journey so far hasn’t necessarily been straightforward, she’s had a number of wins along the way that have reminded her to keep going.
She says, “It hasn’t been linear or logical, but each little step has led onto the next one. For example, when my song, ‘When a Child Stands Alone’, was placed in the top 10 finalists across the globe of a Humanitarian Arts Competition, I was completely stunned and amazed – it was awesome. I kept having these reminders that I was good and should keep going.
“It’s been a busy time recently with ‘Tipping Point’ and ‘Shape of Water’ being released, but it’s exciting because this is really my first professional work, with a producer, in a studio, and with a proper video.
“I have several goals and wishes with my song writing – although I’ve found it’s best to hold these very lightly as it’s not exactly a normal career where things happen in a more structured fashion. I, of course, would like some normal value-based success.
But ultimately, I would love to be part of a wider artistic musical platform that uses music for humanitarian and personal development ends. I would like to use my music to create dialogues about being positive and transformative in the world.”
You can have a watch of the video to hear one of Abi and her band Karuna’s new songs, ‘Tipping Point’. After it’s release, ‘Tipping Point’ was picked to appear at a global environmental online event on World Environment Day.
“Take your skills, delight in them, and see where you can fly with it - regardless of all the barriers and the whispers of self-doubt that manifest on your path”
When asked about what she’d say to anyone else with a dream who feels too scared to go after it, Abi encourages everyone to ignore the inevitable moments of self-doubt and go after what they love.
She says, “I’m trying to self-actualise in one of the hardest industries there is with many barriers against me, but I’m still going for it! Of course, there are terrible moments of self-doubt. But I encourage you to take your skills, delight in them, and see where you can fly with it – regardless of all the barriers and the whispers of self-doubt that manifest on your path.
“For me, it’s a dual wish of wanting to be of benefit to the world, while earning some money and becoming my best creative self. The money part hasn’t occurred yet, but it feels as though this is my gift to the world so I want to develop it. I also see it as my way of becoming because the journey is so highly unique.”